Alice Duer Miller

Who is this? Alice Duer Miller was the author of "Gowns by Roberta" - the book on which my favorite Astaire/Rogers musical was based. According to Wikipedia she "wrote mainly light fiction, but dedicated herself also to the problem of women's suffrage." She authored a column for the old New York Tribune which was later turned into a book titled "Are Women People?" This was first published in 1915 and later republished - in 1917 - as "Women Are People!" This book is available on-line through the Gutenberg Project at www.gutenberg.org. Much of this is satirical poetry and the like. Among the better entries is a list of "Why We Oppose Schools for Children" by the Children's Anti-School League. Reason #1: Because education is a burden, not a right.

"Gowns by Roberta" was not the only of Ms. Miller's works to be brought to the screen. The 1948 film "Spring in Park Lane" is based on her 1916 book "Come Out of the Kitchen". I had not heard of this film but it is apparently the fifth most seen film in Britain with an estimated attendance of over twenty million. This is according to a British Film Institute survey. The number one film is, of course, "Gone with the Wind".